Read Online Four Times the Trouble by Tara Taylor Quinn - Free Book Online

caught his attention and smiled a smile that men the world over could translate in a second. She was available. He looked again. And she was beautiful. Her figure was model perfect in her shimmering gown. She was young enough not to have that look that said she’d seen it all, yet old enough to know the score.
    He looked away.
    He was sipping ice water and making small talk with the bartender when he saw Michelle again. She was with some guy who was so smooth-looking Jacob wondered why her hands didn’t just slip right off him. He oozed money and position and just a little too much confidence for Jacob’s liking. And he was holding Michelle far too close.
    Jacob set his glass down on the bar. It was time to go. Michelle might not have to get up early in the morning, but just because they didn’t have to go to work tomorrow didn’t mean that he’d be able to sleep in. He had three little terrors who would be bouncing into his room by seven in the morning. If he was lucky. If not, they’d be jumping on the end of his bed by six. They liked playtime before school.
    He strode onto the dance floor for the first time that night, tapped Michelle’s partner on the shoulder and, when they turned, grabbed Michelle’s wrist.
    “It’s time to go.”
    Michelle’s partner glared at him. She didn’t look too pleased, either. Neither did the five or six couples who bumped into them in the middle of the crowded dance floor.
    “I’ve got a headache,” Jacob said, wondering what he was doing creating a scene just because some man had been dancing a little more closely than necessary with Michelle. A few hours ago he’d been encouraging her to have a good time, knowing that it was the best thing for her.
    “You’re not feeling well?” Michelle asked solicitously.
    “No.” Jacob was surprised to hear himself continuing the lie. Her concern was making him feel like a heel. But he still didn’t let go of her wrist.
    “Just let me get my purse,” Michelle said.
    Jacob berated himself every way he knew how while he waited for Michelle to return. Being jealous of her dance partners was ludicrous. He was way out of line, overstepping the boundaries that governed their friendship—the boundaries that he himself needed if he and Michelle were going to remain partners.
    * * *
    M ICHELLE WAS QUIET on the drive home, and Jacob welcomed the distance their silence placed between them. She stared out the window and he wondered if she was thinking about Brian Colby. Was she wondering where he was or remembering a night spent dancing in his arms? Envy welled up inside Jacob.
    “Mind if we stop for something to eat?” he asked, breaking the silence that was suddenly deafening in the darkened vehicle.
    “Not at all. I’m starving. I’ll even buy, since we missed dinner on my account.”
    “In that case, I’ll have two of everything,” Jacob said, pulling into an all-night restaurant famous for its breakfasts.
    The young, long-haired host who seated them at a cozy booth for two eyed Michelle appreciatively. She wasn’t the only woman in the restaurant in evening clothes, but she was definitely the most beautiful. The young man glanced at Jacob with envy.
    “You’re one lucky dude,” he muttered as Jacob waited for Michelle to slide into the booth. Jacob didn’t bother correcting him.
    “You feeling better?” Michelle asked half an hour later as they finished their breakfast.
    Jacob nodded. The food had definitely helped improve his mood.
    “You probably just needed something to eat,” she said, smiling at him.
    “Probably.”
    “So what’d you think of the show tonight?”
    Jacob grinned at her. “Are you fishing for a chance to say, ‘I told you so’?”
    “Well, I did tell you it was worth our time, and I was right, wasn’t I?”
    “I’m not sorry we went,” he said.
    “After all the doughnuts I had to buy to get you to come tonight, I think I at least deserve the chance for an ‘I told you so,’